Publication

Publication

Regional Seminar for the prevention of violent extremism in Central Africa and the Lake Chad Basin Yaounde

Relief Web

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UN Regional Office for Central Africa, UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel

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06 February 2016

abstract

For a long time untouched by terrorist movements, Central Africa is today in a situation of extreme insecurity, due to the progression, around the Lake Chad Basin, of an international terrorist group: Boko Haram. Other forms of insecurity sustained by armed groups of all kinds also exist in the region, particularly in the Central African Republic (CAR), and not very far in Libya, Sudan and South Sudan. Violence by these groups has gradually spread beyond their original borders. These excesses represent a decisive factor in the future of the Central African countries given that these armed groups could disrupt the fragile governments in place.

Awareness of the reality of violent extremism has been translated, at the international and national levels, into essential security measures against terrorism. While such measures undoubtedly make it possible to manage violence for the time being, they have proved insufficient over time, when they have not merely fueled the phenomenon.

That is why preventive measures that work to address the underlying causes of extremist violence are essential; they are complementary to the former and demonstrate the need to act at an early stage to prevent violent extremism from spreading even further by allowing States to bring concrete solutions to the problems encountered in the areas concerned, by being attentive to the needs and rights of the populations concerned and by providing concrete responses to legitimate demands - so that they do not seek to express themselves through violence.